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Friday, June 24, 2016

Noel in Kenya

Noel

February 25,2011

Noel attends KE 917 - PCEA Evergreen Student Center which is located north of Nairobi. She is my oldest daughter's correspondent child and we've been writing letters to her since October 2015. So far we have received 6 letters.

She lives with her father (Nickson) and her mother (Millicent). Her siblings are Noah (4), Shalom (8), Brian (13) and Joan (13). Some of the siblings are step-siblings and do not live at home.

Her best friends are Noah and Salome.

She lives in a village and sleeps with her siblings. Her house is made of iron sheet and has a cement floor. She does have water and electricity in her home, but washes her clothes in a basin.

Favorites:

game - hide and seek / skipping rope

song - Jesus Loves Me

food - rice, chicken and beans

language - Swahili

story - Jesus

color - red/pink

holiday - Christmas

likes to play dolls, cook, run and play

subject - Kiswahili

"Noels says she is enjoying school and learning lots of things. She says she follows rules at school and at home. She says she likes following rules so that God is happy, her parents and teachers too. She says thank you for being her friend and prays for your prosperity."

message from the pastor

My name is Michael Mundia, reverend at PCEA Evergreen Church, which ministers to Noel. I love children and I'm dedicated to their ministry.

The center has indeed impacted positively in the lives of the children and the community. The fact that the children in the center come from different churches has allowed us as a church to work with other churches and preach the gospel of Christ.

The center has enabled our mothers, caregivers, babies and older children to avoid preventable diseases which have reduced their hospital bills. Before our church partnered with Compassion International, some children never lived long enough to celebrate their 5th birthday. The caregivers have been equipped with health skills which help them to prevent simple ailments like proper use of mosquito nets that could otherwise lead to complications and premature death. Child screening and continuous monitoring of the children's health has led to early detection of conditions which have been curbed early that would otherwise lead to dangerous illnesses.

We provide HIV/AIDS training, especially on prevention of mother to child transmission, and provide voluntary testing and counseling. It has helped many children whose parents were HIV positive to be born HIV negative, and helps HIV positive caregivers to live in a healthy way. We really thank God for this program because it has assisted not only the registered children and their families, but also the entire community.

The skills and knowledge learned from the center have enabled two of our children to be economically and financially self-sustaining. Our mothers and caregivers have started a small income-generating activities which have improved their life standards and brought a new beginning in the family. They have learned the importance of kitchen-gardening, poultry-farming and rabbit-rearing, which has helped them to provide for their daily expenses.

They have gained skills in bead work, basket-making, soap-making, and cookery, which have enabled them to start small businesses. They have also been taught the importance of saving and some are now working with micro-finance institutions so as to get small loans to help them expand their small businesses.

The church congregation has also reached out to the community by having volunteers in their area of specialization minister to the children. We do medical camps. Some of the children in the community are also educated by the church. In fact, the current county representative at our ward was educated by the church. In the future, we would like to have more families benefit from the church by having long-term projects which will employ more people from the slums, equipping them with skills to support themselves financially. We have witnessed many changes in the lives of many families in the community.

The children love to receive letters from their sponsor. They are happy to write to you so often and to learn about your culture. Their writing skills have improved and every time they look forward to the letter writing season just to share what has happened. We encourage you to write letters.